

This was imaged at a dark site, 21.2mag/sq" on the nights this was imaged. Gathered a total of 48 subs, which made for over eight hours of total integration. Equipment used was a Canon 5D III with a Canon EF 600mm f/4 L II lens. Processed 100% in PixInsight.
I had originally gathered less than three hours, however this was one of the images this year that taught me just how much dark current in an unregulated DSLR can really affect IQ. Even after eight hours of total integration, it took a lot more NR work in PI, using TGV, MMT, and ACDNR, to get the noise under control as well as it is, and it still isn't as good as the noise in a 2h20m Orion Nebula image I did on my first visit to this very same dark site. The only difference between the two images...was the temperature. One was at or below freezing, the other was around 20-23C. What a difference 20C has on the amount of dark current noise in the image...it's quite significant.